EAPIL blog

The legal confrontation between the European Union and the Russian Federation over the effects of restrictive measures continues to intensify. In recent months, the interaction between sanctions law, private international law and national countermeasures has become increasingly complex, as both sides have adopted instruments aimed at protecting the effectiveness of their respective legal frameworks. On […]

This post was contributed by Antonio Mariconda, who is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Naples Federico II. In cross-border legal relationships, it is not uncommon that individuals’ expectations about the legal treatment of their situations are not matched by reality. This has to do with the fact that parties to cross-border situations are […]

The latest issue of the French journal dedicated to international dispute resolution, Perspectives Contentieuses internationales (PCI), has been released. It is an open access publication and can be freely read here. Concentration of Cross-Border Disputes (Part 1) This new issue features the first part of a special dossier on the concentration of cross-border disputes edited […]

This post was contributed by Vytautas Vaicekauskas who is a PhD candidate at Vilnius University. On 16 July 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) delivered a judgment in case No C-196/24 (“Aucrinde”) for the first time concerning the Regulation (EU) 2020/1783 on cross-border taking of evidence in civil and commercial matters […]

This post was contributed by Dr. Vincent Richard, who is a practising lawyer in Luxembourg. As announced by Marta Requejo on this blog, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in the case Aucrinde (C-196/24) on 16 July 2026. This is the first case on the recast of the Evidence Regulation (Reg. 2020/1783) and, more […]

This post was contributed by Pauline Ernste & Jeroen van Hezewijk, who are respectively professor of civil law, in particular civil procedural law, and doctoral researcher at the Radboud Business Law Institute (OO&R) of the Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The post is based on a more in-depth analysis published (in Dutch) here. On […]

On 9 July 2026, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its judgment in Case C‑768/24 Hortis GRC SA v JA, France Travail Île-de-France ECLI:EU:C:2026:566. The judgment concerns the interpretation of Article 6 of the Rome Convention, the predecessor of Article 8 of the Rome I Regulation. More specifically, it concerns the relationship […]

The latest issue of the International and Comparative Law Quarterly (Volume 75, Issue 2) features one article of relevance to private international law. Marcus Teo, Strong Cause, 285 – 313 Common law courts will enforce jurisdiction agreements unless they find ‘strong cause’ or ‘strong reasons’ not to. This article argues that the strong cause test is the […]

The second issue of 2026 of ZEuP – Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht contains the following articles which may be of interest to the readers of the EAPIL blog: Burkhard Hess, Justizpräsenz im Internet: ein neues Forschungsfeld der Prozessrechtsvergleichung The editorial examines the digitalisation of court communication across different jurisdictions, identifying it as an emerging field […]

On 15 July 2026, the European Commission decided to open infringement proceedings against 14 Member States for failing to communicate the complete transposition of Directive (EU) 2024/1069 on the protection of persons engaging in public participation against manifestly unfounded claims or abusive court proceedings (the ‘Anti-SLAPP Directive’). Letters of formal notice have been addressed to […]

This was post was contributed by Dr. Lorène Anthonioz, who is Research and Teaching Assistant in Private International Law at Unidistance. In judgment 4A_305/2025, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition on transferring funds to sanctioned companies and entities under the Swiss Ordinance on Measures Relating to the Situation in Ukraine (see unofficial […]

This post was contributed by Felix D. Pollmann (University of Münster) and draws on a chapter written with Jonathan L. T. Chu (Downing College, University of Cambridge) on “Standard Terms in Business-to-Business Contracts under English and German Law”, in Heiderhoff/Queirolo, Private International Law and the European Union: Developments in Contemporary Private Law (Editoriale Scientifica 2026), […]

The European Court of Human Rights has accepted the referral of Z and Others v. Finland (no. 42758/23) to the Grand Chamber. The case concerns a Russian father who abducted his sons from their mother in Russia to Finland in 2022. As has previously been reported for the blog (see here), the Finnish Supreme Court […]

The world is experiencing a growing number of interconnected crises. Armed conflicts, democratic backsliding, climate change, and human rights violations in global supply chains increasingly transcend national borders and expose the limitations of legal systems designed primarily within territorial frameworks. Private international law, traditionally perceived as a technical and neutral discipline, is therefore confronted with […]

At the recent Geneva Conference, EAPIL’s members were called to elect new officers to serve on the Board and the Scientific Council of the Association until 2030. Congratulations and thanks to the fellow members who will take over from the previous governance. Board of Administration Agnieszka Frackowiack-Adamska, President Agnieszka is a professor at the Department of […]

By order No. 5656/2026, the First Civil Chamber of the Italian Supreme Court referred to the Joint Chambers (Sezioni Unite) a question of “particular importance” concerning the recognition in Italy of children born abroad through surrogacy. More specifically, the Court asked whether the legislative model governing the recognition of children born from incestuous relationships may […]

Recently, a decision of the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof or BGH) was published on the recognition of a judgment in a case of international surrogate motherhood. An unmarried German woman had entered into a surrogacy arrangement in Mexico City. Unlike in previous cases decided by the court, donated eggs and donated sperm were […]

In this post, Julie Esquenazi (University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne) presents the key findings of her doctoral thesis, recently published with Bruylant Larcier Intersentia on Equality of Arms in Cross-Border Civil Litigation. The research aims at analysing and determining whether and to what extent European rules of international jurisdiction effectively ensure equality of arms. […]

This post was contibuted by Mathilde Mathilde Codazzi-Nodet, who is a PhD candidate at Paris II Panthéon-Assas University. On 3rd July 2026, in two major decisions, the plenary assembly (assemblée plénière) of the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation), its most solemn chamber which includes the president of the court and the president of all […]

This post was written by Birgit van Houtert (Assistant Professor, Maastricht University) and Marco Pasqua (Examiner, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan), co-Chairs of the EAPIL Working Group on Anti-SLAPP Directive Transpositions as report of the Working Group’s fourth meeting. This post follows up on the report (Part I). The fourth meeting of […]